When William III and Mary II became joint monarchs in 1689, they brought to the English Court a passion for collecting and for displaying collections - from porcelain and rare birds to tender exotic plants. Queen Mary II in particular loved plants from all over world and exotics from the Mediterranean, Virginia, Mauritius and the New World, were brought to Britain by the Dutch East India Company and displayed at Hampton Court Palace.
Mary II selected an area in the South Gardens of Hampton Court Palace, the warmest part of the gardens and formally Henry VIII’s pond yard, to set out her collection. A specialist Dutch carpenter, Heindrik Floris, built three glass houses or ‘stove houses’, believed to be amongst the earliest forms of greenhouse used in England. Henry VIII’s fish ponds were drained, terraced and landscaped to display the exotics during the summer months.
Mary’s collection comprised 2000 different species and was so vast that she employed her own botanist, Dr Leonard Plukenet, to look after them. Dr Plukenet detailed, catalogued and maintained the exotics. At this point, the collection was one of the largest private collections of tender exotic plants in the world. It contained 1000 orange trees - a symbol of the House of Orange dynasty, to which William III belonged.
Upon Mary II’s death in 1694, William III removed the glass houses and ordered Christopher Wren to construct the Lower Orangery in 1701-2. It was used later to house an art collection. Andrea Mantegna’s famous Triumphs of Caesar, recently represented and reinterpreted can be seen in the building today.
The re-introduction of tender exotics was inspired by the restoration of the Privy Garden in 1995. Exotics would have been a key element of this particular layout and, since 1987, Terry Gough, Head of Gardens and Estate at Hampton Court Palace, has collected exotics through partnerships, both with local nurseries and British and European suppliers.
Visitors to Hampton Court Palace between June and September can now see the exotics, which include orange trees from the citrus collection, along with aloes, agaves and lantarnas, displayed in the Privy Garden and from July 2007 in the Lower Orangery Garden as Mary II would have enjoyed them in the 17th century.
For further information about the restoration of the Lower Orangery Garden, Hampton Court Palace, or to arrange a visit please contact Leana Rochman/Vikki Wood on 020 3166 6338/6304, email leana.rochman@hrp.org.uk / vikki.wood@hrp.org.uk or visit www.hrp.org.uk
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